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Cidellian Empire
The Cidellian Empire is one of the oldest nations on the planet, with a history going back almost a thousand years. It was founded in the year 364 AF by Gaius Manius Cidellus after his triumph over the corrupt Serillian Empire. After the Cidellian Empire's triumph over Goratina in the Unification War, in which Cidel annexed Goratina completely and unified the Greater Ersosian Peninsula, Emperor Tiberius XI proclaimed the beginning of the United Empire of Greater Ersos. The Cidellian Empire still exists under the United Empire, and is ruled by Emperor Tiberius XI. The current year is 1356 AF (After-Foundation). History The Cidellian Empire directly replaced the Serillian Empire a thousand years ago after Gaius Cidellus personally saw to the extinction of the old empire's patrician class and ruling family, with the last Serillus female being forced to marry his eldest son. Over the course of his reign, he personally oversaw the formation of the Imperial Army, the Imperial Navy, codified the Imperial Law, constructed the Imperial Administration from the ground up, and ordered the construction of a new city to serve as his capita. This city, Cidel, would rapidly grow to become the most populated city in the South, and easily the most-defended, with the city's famous Triple Walls protecting against all invasion attempts. After Gaius's death in 401 AF, the empire's first succession crisis occured when Prince Quintus ordered the assassination of his older brother: Prince Gaius. The youngest of Gaius's sons, Severus, barely escaped the capital with his life. Three months passed before Severus returned and gave a rousing speech in the Grand Forum. Rousing the plebs of the city against his brother's murderer, he organized the rioters and marched on the palace. Most of the Altorian Guard abandoned their usurper emperor and joined Severus, and before the day was over, Emperor Quintus the Kinslayer was being tortured to death in the Palace dungeons. Severus soon married his eldest brother's wife, and waged a great many wars against the Gralluvians before falling in battle in 422. His eldest son, Marcus, inherited the throne from his father. Marcus proved to be far less-aggressive than his father, entering into a long peace with his neighbors. While a kind and wise man, he lacked the spine and courage of his father and grandfather, and instead spent the majority of his time in the palace. Many great works of history and philosophy were written by the man who would be remembered as Marcus the Wise before he died in 463 AF, leaving the throne to his eldest son Furinus. Furinus secured his succession quickly through his wild and passionate speech to the masses. He had been frustrated over his father's pacifism, believing that it was the destiny of his empire to subjugate its neighbors. Gathering together many legions, he launched a dual-invasion of Hellevon and Gralluve. It was a military disaster, leading to the bloodbath known as the Battle of Crimson Plains, where over 200,000 Cidellians, 75,000 Gralluvians, and 40,000 Hellevonese lost their lives. The Emperor himself died in a foolish cavalry charge, leaving the throne to his infant son. The new emperor's uncle and regent quickly made peace with Gralluve and Hellevon. Within a month, the capital became a battleground. The patricians, having risen up against the Cidelli under the leadership of Valdinus Trenivus, led a riot that resulted in the mass execution of the Imperial family and the loyalists. Trenivus became Emperor Valdinus, and an era of massive instability began. {C {C}{C}{C The Decade of the Seven Usurpers, as it would later be called, was a period of terror, tyranny, chaos, and destruction within the Empire. No Cidelli were believed to have survived the slaughter, and only one usurper made any effort to find an heir. It was only towards the end, during the reign of Emperor Renaldus, that an heir surfaced. Fighting beside Validus Erus, a former Altorian Imperial Guardsman under Emperor Maxentius, and Glavius Orinus, a loyalist and former Altorian Captain, the bastard son of Emperor Marcus started a civil war that resulted in the death of Emperor Renaldus and the end of the Decade of the Seven Usurpers. Emperor Alexius I, upon seizing the throne, purged the aristocracy and reformed society. The patricians would no longer have any rights of powers above the other nobility. Their titles would be honorary, and nothing more. This further centralized the empire, and placed a significantly larger burden on the Emperor. As a result, Alexius established the Ministry of Provincial Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the Ministry of War, and expanded the Ministry of Intelligence, uplifting the Impeyris Arkus Mosonei established by Emperor Gaius. Alexius died in 509 AF after a reign of thirty-one years, and was succeeded by Prince Solidus, his son. Solidus, while an extremely capable military commander, was a poor politician, and struggled to keep his political affairs in order. His constant campaigns against Gralluve and Bertrol allowed the few remaining patricians to conspire against him. When he returned to the capital after a successful campaign in 515 AF, his informants and agents informed him of a possible attempt on his life. His brother, Marcus, assured him that all was well in the capital. Later that year, the Temple Guards and a large portion of the Altorian Guard revolted against the Emperor. While the Altorian Imperial Guard was still loyal, as always, to the Emperor, they could not hold off the swarms of Conspirators. The Emperor was cut down in the throne room, fighting to the last man alongside his loyal guardsmen, while his only son was smuggled out in the confusion. In the aftermath, it was revealed that the conspiracy had been spearheaded by the Garisii, and had been supported by the Temple, the Altorian Captain, and even the emperor's brother, who was swiftly crowned and made into a figurehead. Prince Furinus, Solidus's only child, was hunted without mercy by the conspirators, but was never found. Prince Furinus later surfaced when he organized a riot in Tanevum. The Magistrate and his family were butchered by the rioters, as well as the city's garrison. By the time reinforcements arrived, Furinus and his supporters had moved on. He proceeded to wage a guerilla war against the conspirators that lasted a total of five years before, finally, one of the old Hands loyal to Furinus infiltrated the palace and poisoned the Emperor. With their figurehead dead, the conspirators placed Marcus's fourteen year-old son on the throne and placed the Altorian Guard on high alert. Over the next week, riots broke out in cities across the Empire. The legions at first scrambled to crush the revolts, then joined them as Prince Furinus marched on the capital. When Altorian Guard caught sight of the Prince leading his army towards the gates, they opened the gates and joined the mob. The conspirators were, in turn, dragged from their homes and executed. Marcus's children were drowned, and Furinus was crowned Emperor Furinus II. His rule was harsh, yet highly successful, with his innovative and revolutionary policies rapidly repairing the damage done by Marcus and the conspirators. While numerous patrician revolts occured during the early years of his reign, the damage of the previous century was vastly repaired. He was a tough man, at one point beating two assassins to death with a candlestick when attacked in the Grand Basilica. After twenty-three years on the throne, however, he was finally assassinated at the age of forty-seven. His throne was left to the fourteen year-old Prince Tiberius, who had yet to finish his education. Furinus was, without surprise, killed in a conspiracy launched by a group of disgruntled equestrians. A patrician, Marcellus Orbinellus, was appointed his regent. His intentions were disloyal, as he hoped to strangle young Tiberius and take the throne for himself. One night, the regent visited the young emperor in his quarters. The young emperor, knowing of the regent's disloyalty, still told his guards to leave. After a short conversation, the regent tackled the young emperor and began to strangle him. Before the guards could run back in, however, the Emperor had stabbed him several times in the chest before jamming his hidden dagger through the regent's neck. A few days later, when a new choice of regent was being discussed by the ministers, Tiberius announced loudly that he would be his own regent. An equestrian attending the meeting attempted to protest, but was swiftly imprisoned by an Altorian Guardsman. Nobody else dared to question him. For the rest of his life, Tiberius would rule as unassisted monarch of the Cidellian Empire. Tiberius grew into a short, yet powerful warrior, with an active mind and a great talent for winning loyalty. At the age of twenty, he began a series of conquests, smashing army after army and subjugating kingdom after kingdom. He was unstoppable, crushing all that rose against him. Before he reached thirty-five, all of Marfor, Bertrol, Gralluve, and Hellevon answered to his command. Further military campaigns up into modern Goratina were carried out, and victories against the local tribes came easy, but the campaigns were abandoned when Tiberius decided that Goratina was too poor to be worth his trouble. He lived to the ripe old age of seventy-six, traveling constantly throughout his now expansive empire. Revolts were always popping up, with the Marforians being especially restless. When he died, he left the empire to his aged son Alexius, who was coronated as Alexius II. He worked hard to keep his father's conquests together, and was largely successful, having inherited a keen administrative and military mind from his father. When he died thirteen years into his reign, his throne was left once again to his son. A tradition of father-to-son succession had begun, and while successions were not without assassinations and revolts, it seemed as if the earlier bloodbath had been decisively ended by Tiberius the Conqueror. A period of peace commenced after the reign of the Conqueror. The region of Marfor, and a small portion of Gralluve were lost during this time, but Tiberius's conquests were largely held together. However, the peace was bound to end, and did so when Princess Theodora inherited the throne in 720 AF. Never before had a female ruled the Cidellian Empire without male assistance, and this was deemed as completely unacceptable by a large portion of the nobility. Revolts were numerous, and the twenty year old Empress proved her own mettle by crushing them. She married four years into her reign, and had only one son before her husband, General Quintus Tivanus, was lost at sea. Her son, later known as Alexius IV, had a romantic view of the sea. The Empress's protests and commands could not stop her son from enlisting in the fleets, and sailing far across the oceans to the north and east. When his mother was assassinated by an Imperial Battlepriest in 758, he had to deal with one small riot before ascending to the throne. For four years, he dealt with administrative problems, but he constantly yearned to sail once again. Finally, in 762, he led a small fleet of ships north, and never returned. He left the throne to his thirteen year-old son, Cornelius. His regency was surprisingly quiet, and he ascended to the status of full Emperor at the age of eighteen, as was normal. He proved himself to be an extremely talented diplomat, politician, and administrator, reforming various outdated aspects of the Cidellian government and keeping the peace with great effectiveness. He was also, however, a gifted strategist. When a Marforian horde invaded Gralluve in 779, he led the Imperial Army into battle, crushing the Marforians and pushing the advantage, invading and subjugating their lands once again. His administrative talents allowed him to quickly integrate Marfor fully into the empire. While revolts persisted for some time, the Imperial Army garrisons always managed to put them down. Cornelius's reign, however, is most well-known for its length. Called Cornelius the Immortal during the last quarter of his life, he reigned for a total of 101 years, living to the incredibly old age of 114. While the empire was incredibly stable upon his death, the amount of descendants alive at the time of his death resulted in a full-blown civil war, with roughly eight factions competing for the throne. Tiberius Cidellus, Cornelius's originally designated successor, finally won the throne after almost two years of fighting, becoming Emperor Tiberius III. He died a year later of a tragic heart attack, leaving the throne to his son: Cornelius II. For the next several centuries, the Empire was mostly peaceful as it became more and more stable and solid. The Marforians, Gralluvians, Hellevones, and Berts gradually came to view themselves as Cidellians. Minor wars did indeed break out, and a few major wars broke out between the Goratinan tribes and the Empire, but for the most part...the empire was at peace. This all changed in 1355, when the Cidelo-Goratinan Slavery War was kicked off by the Goratinan seizure of countless Cidellian citizens living on the Sophoron peninsula to work as slaves. Tiberius XI, after delivering a rejected ultimatum demanding their release, ordered the invasion and forceful release of the captive Cidellians. The Invasion of the Sophoron Peninsula was nearly bloodless, but the Goratinan counter-attack was not. Within months, the vast horde of Goratina invaded the Cidellian Empire under the Goratinan sultan-chiefs Gravy and Phillar. Heavy fighting followed in which Tiberius XI led his forces against theirs. As a fair portion of the Goratinan horde besieged the Cidellian border forts, the largest host (consisting of 200,000 Goratinans) made its way towards Evelym, regional capital of Gralluve. As it moved, however, Gravy was struck by a poisoned Cidellian arrow and killed. His lieutenants took over command from him, and continued on with his orders. As the generals Flavius Arcanus and Gelavion Tustaris led crushing victories against the Goratinan armies on the border, Emperor Tiberius and Minister of War Tyrus Aerinus quickly moved from the capital to Evelym. Arriving with a mere 500 Altorian Imperial Guardsmen, the mere presence of the Emperor inspired the exhausted defenders of Evelym to fight with great vigor and passion. As reinforcements arrived to harass the horde from other parts of the Empire, Tiberius and Aerinus led a heroic defense of Evelym. By the end of the battle, the entire horde was captured or killed. On the border, Arcanus and Yustaris had crushed the Goratinan siege armies, securing the empire and paving the way for an invasion of Goratina. In the naval theatre, the Cidellian Navy quickly won complete naval superiority, crushing the weak Goratinan Navy. The seizure of the Goratinan colony on the island of New Muskovitzia soon followed, as did the complete blockade of all Goratinan ports on the eastern coast. Meanwhile, the third sultan-chief (Unotha) seceded from Goratina, taking the Yurt and Torvenya (Goratina's former capital) with her. She immediately sent several letters to Tiberius seeking diplomatic recognition and even vassalization. Tiberius refused all offers short of full surrender whilst refusing to recognize the new Duchy of Yurt-Calan as an independent nation. Prior to Tiberius's counter-invasion into Goratina, she formally surrendered to the Cidellian fleet blockading Torvenya. Tiberius's invasion of Goratina soon followed, with the shattered remnants of the Goratinan armies offering little in the way of resistance. As he invaded, Goratina began to swiftly fragment into numerous rebel nations, including the New Police Confederation, Clavica, and Frumanta. Within three months, all of southern (and most of central) Goratina had fallen to his armies, with the New Police Confederation and Frumanta being completely consumed. In the spring of 1356, an attempt to capture Unotha was made by Cidellian agents, as it was believed that she was plotting treason against the Emperor. The initial kidnapping was successful, but the Cidellian agents were caught as they transported her to the waiting ship by Unotha's loyal supporters. The agents escaped unharmed, but failed to secure Unotha. As a result, she took command of her 7,000 followers and made her way to the coast in a prefabricated plan to escape using ships purchased from Paxis. Her supporters were quickly pounced upon by the two Cidellian armies in the area, who proceeded to attack her supporters from both sides. As her escape fleet arrived, it was seized and captured by the Cidellians. Unotha (and her supporters) were swiftly cut down by the Cidellians on the shores of Goratina. In the summer of 1356, the subjugation of Clavica (the final Goratinan rebel state) was concluded. Tiberius returned to the capital a mere few weeks later, and in his victory speech to the populace, proclaimed the beginning of the United Empire of Greater Ersos. For the first time in the peninsula's long history, the Greater Ersosian peninsula was unified under one government. Geography The Cidellian Empire is divided into five distinct regions: the Heartlands, Hellevon, Marfor, Gralluve, Bertrol, and the South Islands, with the inhabitants being called Heartlanders, Hellevones, Marforians, Gralluvians, Berts, and Islanders respectively. The capitals of each region are: Cidel (Heartlands), Rendolis (Hellevon), Bertrol (Bertrol), Skreesvaen (Marfor), and Evelym (Gralluve). The Heartlands, along with Hellevon, are the two wealthiest and most-developed regions of Cidel, with many opulent cities dotting their landscape. These two regions are also the bread-baskets of the empire, with vast plantations covering a majority of the fertile grasslands. The capital of the Empire, Cidel, lies on the central coast of the Heartlands. The Heartland-Marforian and Heartland-Gralluvian border is largely guarded by the Heartland mountains, while the Heartland-Hellevonese border is marked by the wide and powerful Duvaris River. Bertrol is mostly mountainous, with rolling hills dominating the rest of the landscape. Bertrol is wealthy in ore and other mined substances, Marfor is heavily-forested, and is the least-developed of Cidel's regions. Its inhabitants, the Marforians, are peerless in battle, with astounding courage and loyalty. A large portion of the Altorian Guard is made up of Marforians. The western coast of Marfor is guarded by a vast and tall mountain chain. Gralluve mostly consists of grasslands with some plantations. The northern coast is dominated by another mountain chain. Politics The Cidellian Empire is an absolute monarchy, with the Emperor having complete control over all state affairs. Emperors are typically well-trained for their responsibility, as all members of the Cidellus dynasty (in order to be allowed to rule) must undergo a long and thorough education. The Emperor is aided by his trusted ministers: the Minister of Foreign Relations, the Minister of Provincial Administration, the Minister of Intelligence, the Minister of War, and the Minister of Colonial Expansion. {C}{C Upon the succession of an Emperor, he always designates a successor. The designated successor is allowed to be undertrained, but cannot undertake any responsibilities of state until he finishes his education. The responsibility of running the Empire is typically left to the Ministers, with the regent acting as the young Emperor's voice until the monarch comes of age. The young Emperor's rights are guarded by the Temple and the Altorian Guard during his youth. There have been no cases in all the Empire's long history of a regent succeeding in taking long-term power. There were cases, however, of Emperors taking power from their regents. Most noteworthy was when Marcellus Oribellus, regent of the young Emperor TIberius I, attempted to take power. Tiberius I, at thirteen years old, personally stabbed him to death when the regent tried to strangle him. While noble revolts were common in the past, they are relatively rare now. The nobility have been largely pacified, with their power to raise armies and riots largely diminished. The revolt in 1349 after the succession of Tiberius XI consisted of a relatively small force of untrained levies, and was easily routed. The Temple is closely-watched, and is incapable of acting completely on its own, while most of the plebs are completely loyal to their sovereign. All in all, the political situation in Cidel is incredibly stable, with the biggest problems surfacing during successions. Economy Culture Category:Nations Category:CS1 Category:New Era Factions